[MOC] KdaptPreacher's 1:1455 Fleet --- 206 ships and counting (New: Ahsoka's Shuttle, Fondor Haulcraft)

[Kdapt-Preacher]

Alright, we gotta just get going here. #203, the Sith escort gunship! A fairly obscure ship from the Great Hyperspace War, which has the principal benefit that the model is small enough that I'm confident it will stick together even though I haven't actually built it IRL. I have several more small things and will try to get them out over the next couple of days.

 

On 8/18/2023 at 9:28 AM, SeanRicho said:

Welcome to the land down under!

Thank you! I'm having a great time so far. I'm an ecologist, so this is definitely a cool place to be. I saw a wild platypus this morning!

Edited August 20, 2023 by Kdapt-Preacher

[Kage Goomba]

Def. a different ship to be sure.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

Continuing the Tales of the Jedi theme, we have #204, the Sith Meditation Sphere! This model hasn't yet been approved by Rebrickable, but should be public shortly. Although I suspect you can figure out how to build it without needing the actual file.

 

And on a more substantial note, Ulic Qel-Droma's Nebulon Ranger! I'm not publishing the Ranger immediately because I want to build it IRL first and make sure it's not going to fall off that stand, but this should give you a pretty good idea of what the model looks like. In this case I'm assuming that the official size (150 meters) is the length down that wing rather than the length along the axis of flight, since otherwise the cockpit alone would be the size of a house.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

D-d-d-double update! We have #205, Ahsoka Tano's T-6 shuttle, and #206, Luthen Rael's Fondor Haulcraft! I'm trying to clear out all the stuff I've got here that's small enough that I'm comfortable publishing it without having tested it IRL. Ahsoka's shuttle is based on the Republic T-6 I posted ages ago, so I know that works, and the Haulcraft is only 11 parts, so I'm not really worried about it structurally.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

In other news, work on the Venator is proceeding apace. I can't remember whether I actually posted the previous render here or not (I don't see it earlier in this thread), but regardless, I've completely reworked the hull panels since the last time I said anything about it, to reorient the stud lines parallel to the inner edges rather than the outer. The main reason to have them aligned to the outer edges was for stylistic consistency with 75252, which I do consider a positive, but I think the better alignment of the Open Circle emblem and the wing stripes makes the new version look a lot better. Having the paint details be flush with the surface of the hull makes a big difference to how polished the ship looks overall. These panels still aren't final, since I have to integrate the recess behind the emblem and some other greeblies, but I'm still working on exactly how to best tie the panels into the frame of the model (which is a lot harder without physical bricks), so those details will have to wait a bit. That's the main remaining stuructural question; I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on what this needs to look like other than that.

As promised, the doors do open and the hangar has an interior. I'll include some Gunships and such in the final model. I think I'm probably not going to include a hinge to 'properly' open the doors; that's just a bit too complex for this space and I don't think that that kind of 'play feature' buys me very much when this is definitely a pure display model anyway. Haven't completely ruled it out, though; we'll see what happens when I have the hull panel attachment finalized and I know exactly how much room I have to work with.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Kdapt-Preacher

[Kage Goomba]

Totally loving this. :)

[Mandalorianknight]

Very happy to see you being active and giving updates, and I like the new ships. Looks like the Ahsoka show is bringing plenty of new ships for you to make too!

[Starwarsfan12346]

For your bigger instructions, like the venator, secutor, and interdictor, will you sell them or keep them free? Also do you think it’s possible to build SSD irl?

[Kdapt-Preacher]

On 8/24/2023 at 8:21 AM, Mandalorianknight said:

Very happy to see you being active and giving updates, and I like the new ships. Looks like the Ahsoka show is bringing plenty of new ships for you to make too!

Yes, I've been quite pleased with it so far. I haven't crunched the numbers myself yet, but there's definitely enough information in the hangar shots to work out the size of those New Republic cruisers. Very pretty ships! Hopefully it'll keep going like that.

14 hours ago, Starwarsfan12346 said:

For your bigger instructions, like the venator, secutor, and interdictor, will you sell them or keep them free? Also do you think it’s possible to build SSD irl?

Current plan is to keep them free. I don't have any problem with people choosing to sell their instructions, but for my own part I prefer to keep my LEGO building as just a hobby. If I ever found myself in serious need of an additional income stream I would probably get over that ethical hurdle, but hopefully it won't come to that, LMAO.

For the second question, that depends on what you mean by 'possible'. I'm doing my utmost best to make sure that it would stick together and support its own weight, so in that sense yes, I think it'll be possible. With a model of this size it's hard to be completely certain of that (especially since I'm an ecologist, not an engineer), but I'm convinced it can be done. However, in a more practical sense, we're talking about probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of pieces here, if they're even available at all; a while back I worked out how many 16x16 plates I'd need to make the whole hull out of them and it was more than BrickLink had for sale at the time. And you'd need a space to display it, which would probably have to be a whole building designed around it; I don't know what else you'd do with it. If I ever actually finish the model (which, to be clear, is a very big if) I'll put serious thought, at the very least, into how to go about getting it built, but I don't think it's at all likely that it'll end up actually happening. For the time being I'm treating it as essentially digital art. It's nice to think about, though...

[Kage Goomba]

5 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

Yes, I've been quite pleased with it so far. I haven't crunched the numbers myself yet, but there's definitely enough information in the hangar shots to work out the size of those New Republic cruisers. Very pretty ships! Hopefully it'll keep going like that.

Current plan is to keep them free. I don't have any problem with people choosing to sell their instructions, but for my own part I prefer to keep my LEGO building as just a hobby. If I ever found myself in serious need of an additional income stream I would probably get over that ethical hurdle, but hopefully it won't come to that, LMAO.

For the second question, that depends on what you mean by 'possible'. I'm doing my utmost best to make sure that it would stick together and support its own weight, so in that sense yes, I think it'll be possible. With a model of this size it's hard to be completely certain of that (especially since I'm an ecologist, not an engineer), but I'm convinced it can be done. However, in a more practical sense, we're talking about probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of pieces here, if they're even available at all; a while back I worked out how many 16x16 plates I'd need to make the whole hull out of them and it was more than BrickLink had for sale at the time. And you'd need a space to display it, which would probably have to be a whole building designed around it; I don't know what else you'd do with it. If I ever actually finish the model (which, to be clear, is a very big if) I'll put serious thought, at the very least, into how to go about getting it built, but I don't think it's at all likely that it'll end up actually happening. For the time being I'm treating it as essentially digital art. It's nice to think about, though...

I'll keep nagging you to start building that monster if its the last thing I do....

 

Or you could just find your way over here to Seattle and we could collab on it :P :)

[Iperial_Fleet_Commander]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:49 PM, Kdapt-Preacher said:

#166-169, more small Imperial ships! With the Y-4 'Raptor' transport, the Gamma-class assault shuttle, the Skipray blastboat, and the Imperial Assault Shuttle. The Skipray is definitely scraping what I would consider an acceptable resolution--it is, unfortunately, a very small ship, and I'm honestly not sure this is really recognizable--but it's such a prominent vehicle in the old EU that I really wanted a model of it, so here we are. The others should be more recognizable, at least insofar as the ships themselves are recognizable, which is going to be 'not very' to anybody who isn't familiar with 25-year-old video games. But that is, of course, why we're all here.

Just caught up on a lot of these, really great models all around! Mini scale stuff is always fun to see, working with those tiny pieces is very enjoyable to me lol.

I did do a fast attempt at reworking the Skipray, after I had a bit of a wave of inspiration, but unfortunately its been too long since I last posted an image here, and I've completely forgotten how to embed images now haha. The general idea is to replace that jumper with a minifigure skate piece, and replacing the cone with a 1x1 with hole in the middle and a bulb piece on top. 

[Kdapt-Preacher]

5 hours ago, Iperial_Fleet_Commander said:

Just caught up on a lot of these, really great models all around! Mini scale stuff is always fun to see, working with those tiny pieces is very enjoyable to me lol.

I did do a fast attempt at reworking the Skipray, after I had a bit of a wave of inspiration, but unfortunately its been too long since I last posted an image here, and I've completely forgotten how to embed images now haha. The general idea is to replace that jumper with a minifigure skate piece, and replacing the cone with a 1x1 with hole in the middle and a bulb piece on top. 

Ooh, good catch. You're completely right that the skate is a better fit there. I'll put that on my list of things to update. I'm not sure about using the Barraki eye piece there--neither one of those options is a great match for the Skipray's hull, but I like that the cone captures at least a bit the pointiness of it. I'll think about it.

I have a running list of changes I want to make to older models when I get a chance. Several new pieces have been introduced in the last year or so that are relevant here. The 1x1 downwards bracket now exists in dark grey, which is good news for some of the Stinger Mantis variants and probably a few other things (maybe Twilight, although I think that needs some light grey *somewhere*); and the 1x2 vertical brackets that were released last year are relevant for a bunch of small shuttle dorsal fins (maybe not the Lambda-class, since that's supposed to only be connected part of the way down, but definitely the Nu-class); and I'd like to add the 2x6 angle plate into the Nebulon B, and clean up the hull armor there a little; and I've done the hull attachment update for the Cantwell-class, although I can't do much with that until I can build it IRL. There are a couple other things that I'm forgetting, I think; I have them written down somewhere. And I have some more small ships that've been finished for a while that I just haven't done the renders for. Stuff to do! The LEGO time I've had recently has been mostly working on the Venator, which is progressing very nicely (although LEGO's definitely going to beat me to the punch here, especially since I won't be able to test-build mine for months at least).

[Kage Goomba]

6 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

Ooh, good catch. You're completely right that the skate is a better fit there. I'll put that on my list of things to update. I'm not sure about using the Barraki eye piece there--neither one of those options is a great match for the Skipray's hull, but I like that the cone captures at least a bit the pointiness of it. I'll think about it.

I have a running list of changes I want to make to older models when I get a chance. Several new pieces have been introduced in the last year or so that are relevant here. The 1x1 downwards bracket now exists in dark grey, which is good news for some of the Stinger Mantis variants and probably a few other things (maybe Twilight, although I think that needs some light grey *somewhere*); and the 1x2 vertical brackets that were released last year are relevant for a bunch of small shuttle dorsal fins (maybe not the Lambda-class, since that's supposed to only be connected part of the way down, but definitely the Nu-class); and I'd like to add the 2x6 angle plate into the Nebulon B, and clean up the hull armor there a little; and I've done the hull attachment update for the Cantwell-class, although I can't do much with that until I can build it IRL. There are a couple other things that I'm forgetting, I think; I have them written down somewhere. And I have some more small ships that've been finished for a while that I just haven't done the renders for. Stuff to do! The LEGO time I've had recently has been mostly working on the Venator, which is progressing very nicely (although LEGO's definitely going to beat me to the punch here, especially since I won't be able to test-build mine for months at least).

Frankly - your Venator is vastly better than what Lego came up with - lately it feels like they are half assing things.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

9 hours ago, Kage Goomba said:

Frankly - your Venator is vastly better than what Lego came up with - lately it feels like they are half assing things.

Of course LEGO's has the huge advantage that it already exists and mine doesn't yet, LMAO. I think they're going to fill somewhat different niches; LEGO's is almost 40% larger than mine, which is enough of a difference that they aren't going to have much in common structurally. They've certainly done a lot of stuff I like, to the degree that I'd probably say I like the set more than any MOC I've seen in that size range, so I'll definitely be going over it to see if there are any elements I want to steal, but I don't think it's the best that could be done.

This came up in the 2023 News thread too, so while everybody's thinking about Venator hangars I thought I should show how I'm looking at doing it in case anybody's looking for examples. These renders are from a while ago, so still obviously WIP, but you can see the basic idea. The hangar is a huge architectural constraint, so I've landed on a very different strategy than your typical large SD MOC. Instead of the typical Technic frame I'm using these four spars all mounted at acute angles to each other, such that the hangar itself becomes the major structural component of the front half of the ship. This is significantly more part-intensive than a normal frame, but it leaves far more open space in the interior, and with each of the spars tied into the others at multiple angled joints I think it'll be very stiff for its weight. The flat hull panels are attached to each of the spars so everything meshes together nicely. Note that this design was mostly made with the RotS version in mind; I'm doing the same basic thing for the TCW version as well, but I think it's probably overkill for that given that the doors are mounted to the hull panels rather than to the center body--it'll still work fine, but you could get away with a lot less infrastructure if you wanted to there. It's easier to plan for RotS and then convert to TCW than vice versa.

[Kage Goomba]

17 minutes ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

Of course LEGO's has the huge advantage that it already exists and mine doesn't yet, LMAO. I think they're going to fill somewhat different niches; LEGO's is almost 40% larger than mine, which is enough of a difference that they aren't going to have much in common structurally. They've certainly done a lot of stuff I like, to the degree that I'd probably say I like the set more than any MOC I've seen in that size range, so I'll definitely be going over it to see if there are any elements I want to steal, but I don't think it's the best that could be done.

This came up in the 2023 News thread too, so while everybody's thinking about Venator hangars I thought I should show how I'm looking at doing it in case anybody's looking for examples. These renders are from a while ago, so still obviously WIP, but you can see the basic idea. The hangar is a huge architectural constraint, so I've landed on a very different strategy than your typical large SD MOC. Instead of the typical Technic frame I'm using these four spars all mounted at acute angles to each other, such that the hangar itself becomes the major structural component of the front half of the ship. This is significantly more part-intensive than a normal frame, but it leaves far more open space in the interior, and with each of the spars tied into the others at multiple angled joints I think it'll be very stiff for its weight. The flat hull panels are attached to each of the spars so everything meshes together nicely. Note that this design was mostly made with the RotS version in mind; I'm doing the same basic thing for the TCW version as well, but I think it's probably overkill for that given that the doors are mounted to the hull panels rather than to the center body--it'll still work fine, but you could get away with a lot less infrastructure if you wanted to there. It's easier to plan for RotS and then convert to TCW than vice versa.

Lego has jack all nothing on you.

This isn't a matter of size or piece count - its intention.

Their Venator is just a simple mock up - yours is going to be refined and focused on quality. Doesn't need to be bigger to accomplish it. :)

Frankly I don't hold much faith in their structure as it looks suspiciously like the USC ISD with obvious changes - which frankly is a PITA.
Id sooner grab yours anyway.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Kage Goomba

[Starwarsfan12346]

Will you use the bridge from your Venator on your Secutor or will it be different?

[Kdapt-Preacher]

1 hour ago, Starwarsfan12346 said:

Will you use the bridge from your Venator on your Secutor or will it be different?

Different. The basic shape is the same, but they're not identical. The Secutor's bridges have a large dome in the middle where the Venator's radar thingie is, and a bunch of weapon emplacements and whatnot running down the centerline of the tower structure, which is significant because it means that part needs to be stepped rather than smooth and angled, so it'll have to be constructed quite differently. I think the Secutor's bridges are also a bit shorter and fatter proportionately than the Venator's are (at least the TCW version of the Venator), although I haven't measured them yet. Plus, the Secutor doesn't have the whole angled construction that I talked about in the post above this, so it'll be built along more typical lines with a Technic spar running down the top midline, and that'll simplify the construction of the bridges a bit. My plan for the Venator is to have the outermost layer on each side of the towers be attached to the angled spar and just lean up against the main structure to accomplish that angle. I haven't actually built any of that yet, though, so we'll see what happens. It may end up looking better to have the whole bridge structure in click.

[Kage Goomba]

4 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

Different. The basic shape is the same, but they're not identical. The Secutor's bridges have a large dome in the middle where the Venator's radar thingie is, and a bunch of weapon emplacements and whatnot running down the centerline of the tower structure, which is significant because it means that part needs to be stepped rather than smooth and angled, so it'll have to be constructed quite differently. I think the Secutor's bridges are also a bit shorter and fatter proportionately than the Venator's are (at least the TCW version of the Venator), although I haven't measured them yet. Plus, the Secutor doesn't have the whole angled construction that I talked about in the post above this, so it'll be built along more typical lines with a Technic spar running down the top midline, and that'll simplify the construction of the bridges a bit. My plan for the Venator is to have the outermost layer on each side of the towers be attached to the angled spar and just lean up against the main structure to accomplish that angle. I haven't actually built any of that yet, though, so we'll see what happens. It may end up looking better to have the whole bridge structure in click.

Like I said - better quality. :)

[Iperial_Fleet_Commander]

22 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

This came up in the 2023 News thread too, so while everybody's thinking about Venator hangars I thought I should show how I'm looking at doing it in case anybody's looking for examples. These renders are from a while ago, so still obviously WIP, but you can see the basic idea. The hangar is a huge architectural constraint, so I've landed on a very different strategy than your typical large SD MOC. Instead of the typical Technic frame I'm using these four spars all mounted at acute angles to each other, such that the hangar itself becomes the major structural component of the front half of the ship. This is significantly more part-intensive than a normal frame, but it leaves far more open space in the interior, and with each of the spars tied into the others at multiple angled joints I think it'll be very stiff for its weight. The flat hull panels are attached to each of the spars so everything meshes together nicely. Note that this design was mostly made with the RotS version in mind; I'm doing the same basic thing for the TCW version as well, but I think it's probably overkill for that given that the doors are mounted to the hull panels rather than to the center body--it'll still work fine, but you could get away with a lot less infrastructure if you wanted to there. It's easier to plan for RotS and then convert to TCW than vice versa.

Any ideas on how/if you're going to attach the hangar bay doors? Was actually working on modifying an old Venator MOC I got instructions for a few years ago to have opening doors, and kinda lack a way to really attach them.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

7 minutes ago, Iperial_Fleet_Commander said:

Any ideas on how/if you're going to attach the hangar bay doors? Was actually working on modifying an old Venator MOC I got instructions for a few years ago to have opening doors, and kinda lack a way to really attach them.

When they're in the open position they attach to the four studs you see at the ends of the red stripes in those images (so they're aligned to the sides of the hangar), and when they're closed they attach to the 2x4 plate in the middle (so they're aligned to the midline of the ship). I played around with using a Technic hinge or something to let them actually articulate, but that ended up being too complex a mechanism for the space, so you'll have to just take the doors off and reattach them in the other position.

[Kage Goomba]

2 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

When they're in the open position they attach to the four studs you see at the ends of the red stripes in those images (so they're aligned to the sides of the hangar), and when they're closed they attach to the 2x4 plate in the middle (so they're aligned to the midline of the ship). I played around with using a Technic hinge or something to let them actually articulate, but that ended up being too complex a mechanism for the space, so you'll have to just take the doors off and reattach them in the other position.

Could try a sliding door/hatch type - would be a trick and a half.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

1 hour ago, Kage Goomba said:

Could try a sliding door/hatch type - would be a trick and a half.

The issue is that it needs to move on multiple axes. The doors both slide laterally and rotate slightly to make the opening wider towards the rear of the ship. There are definitely ways to make that happen, but they all require some kind of multiply-jointed assembly. If I was really in this for the play features I could probably thicken the ship a bit and cram it in there, but I don't think it buys me much.

The doors for the side hangars may slide open, though. I've been screwing with that and haven't come to any conclusions yet. It's easy to make them slide into the side of the ship, but the but somewhat harder to add a way to slide them out again without disassembling half the model. They'd need a teeny handle or something, which doesn't mesh very well with the greeblies in that area. I'm going to continue poking at it. I'm also including the small bow doors at the very front of the main hangar, but I need to find a clip of them actually opening to decide what to do with them--there's plenty of room for a hinge there, but I think they're supposed to slide sideways, which there isn't room for (I don't think there's room on the actual ship either; they'd have to collapse into sections or something). Probably they'll just be removable on the model. That opening is tiny, like 2x4 studs, so I'm not super worried about intricate functionality there.

 

In related news, I've found that my Charger c70 model doesn't quite fit into the Venator's ventral bay the way it ought to. There's some discrepancy in canon around the size of that ship, and I suspect that TCW had it scaled to 115 meters (which is what it probably ought to be) rather than the word-of-God 135 meters (which is what my model is). As a result I've slightly shrinkified my model to get it down to 115 meters. I'm not sure how I'll publish this; I think I still like the 135-meter model a bit more, especially around the engines, so I'll probably keep that as the 'main' one, but maybe I'll just add the smaller version to that same Rebrickable page with a note about the different sizes.

 

EDIT: No, wait, did my math wrong. The new model is still bigger than 115 meters. It's closer and fits in the hangar, though, so good enough. I'm actually kinda warming up to the new version; that 1x5 plate didn't exist when I designed the original model, and it's doing a lot of work here. I might just replace the existing Consular models with this one. I'll have to think about it.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Kdapt-Preacher

[Kage Goomba]

1 hour ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

The issue is that it needs to move on multiple axes. The doors both slide laterally and rotate slightly to make the opening wider towards the rear of the ship. There are definitely ways to make that happen, but they all require some kind of multiply-jointed assembly. If I was really in this for the play features I could probably thicken the ship a bit and cram it in there, but I don't think it buys me much.

The doors for the side hangars may slide open, though. I've been screwing with that and haven't come to any conclusions yet. It's easy to make them slide into the side of the ship, but the but somewhat harder to add a way to slide them out again without disassembling half the model. They'd need a teeny handle or something, which doesn't mesh very well with the greeblies in that area. I'm going to continue poking at it. I'm also including the small bow doors at the very front of the main hangar, but I need to find a clip of them actually opening to decide what to do with them--there's plenty of room for a hinge there, but I think they're supposed to slide sideways, which there isn't room for (I don't think there's room on the actual ship either; they'd have to collapse into sections or something). Probably they'll just be removable on the model. That opening is tiny, like 2x4 studs, so I'm not super worried about intricate functionality there.

Would be interested to see your work on Discord when you have a chance - maybe I'm not visualizing it right.

[Kdapt-Preacher]

Basic structure of the ventral surface. Obviously lots of greebly work to do on the central bit and in the hangar, but I think this is about what the ventral hull armor needs to look like. This is the RotS version; the TCW version is very similar from this view but will have the brim notch much further back.

[Starwarsfan12346]

Your Venator is looking great! It’s been really cool to see your WIP photos and how it’s all coming together. Can’t wait to build it